Connecticut Leaders Speak Out Against Proposed School Funding Cuts At South Windsor Rally

Residents and officials from South Windsor and surrounding towns hold a rally at South Windsor Town Hall to speak out against Gov. Dannel Malloy’s revised proposal for the distribution of education cost sharing (ECS) funds.

About 40 people gathered outside town hall in South Windsor to express their displeasure with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's latest budget plan and the legislature's inability to pass a budget.

"School starts in seven days, being strung along like this is unacceptable," Mirek said before the rally, adding that town officials have already made several million in cuts to their budgets in anticipation of decreased aid from the state.

"I don't know where we'll find the money besides taxing our residents out of the state," she said.

Mirek was joined by about a dozen elected officials from surrounding communities and state representatives who alternated between blaming the governor and state office holders, including State Rep. Tim Ackert, (R- Coventry) who likened the governor's plan to "Holding the children in 85 communities in Connecticut hostage."

Under the Democrats latest proposal released Wednesday about 20 smaller towns would still be zeroed-out, but larger towns have the funding largely restored. West Hartford would see a $1.37 million, or 5.7 percent cut in state and ECS aid to $22.57 million. Manchester, which was also slated to lose more than $34 million in ECS funding, the total reduction of state and ECS aid would be about $550,000, or 1.4 percent.

Afterward Kathy Hemingway of Ellington said it was wrong that legislators were not in session now working to get a budget passed.